29 January 2024
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King's Ransom for King's Inch as Multi Million Pound Sewer Upgrade Begins
29 January 2024
Prone to Bursts
The waste water running through the sewer is pressurised so when it bursts the road is quickly flooded.
The first phase of a more-than £10million investment to upgrade the main sewer running between Renfrew and the Shieldhall waste water treatment works is about to get underway.
From Monday 5 February work to construct a temporary overland pipeline along 840 metres of King’s Inch Road will begin.
Heras fencing will be laid out along the route between Ferry Road and Crofton Way and from the middle of February the adjacent westbound carriageway will be reduced to one lane.
Georgina Reid, Scottish Water’s corporate affairs manager in the west said: “This will be the first opportunity to appreciate the sheer scale of the project and what it will achieve.
“The temporary pipe will run for over half a mile, carrying the full pressurised flows of waste water allowing our engineers to reline the existing underground pipe.
“The technique effectively delivers a brand new pipe within the old pipe, all but eliminating the chance of it bursting along its relined length.
“A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to deliver a project on this scale in such a short period of time, so it is great to see work on the ground getting underway.”
Giant sections of pipe will be bolted together to form the temporary overland pipeline
Specialised valves similar to this will connect the temporary pipeline to the existing underground sewer
The temporary pipeline is expected to be operational by the end of April when the pressurised waste water flows from the Renfrew pumping station will be switched over.
Access pits at strategic points along the route of the existing sewer will then be excavated and the lining material fed down and drawn through the centre of the pipe.
Temporary walkway bridges across the overland pipeline will be situated at various locations to allow people to safely cross the road.
The project has been fast-tracked following a spate of bursts in recent months.
Georgina Reid added: “It was clear this section of the network was particularly vulnerable and repeated repairs were causing disruption and inconvenience for our customers.
“This first phase deals with the most burst-prone section of the sewer and we are also developing plans to upgrade the upstream and downstream sections.
“We are committing one of our biggest single sewer upgrade investments in the west to provide peace of mind to residents, road users and customers and protect the environment.”
The project is being delivered by our alliance partner Caledonia Water Alliance and their specialist contractors.
The first phase is expected to be completed by November 2024.
